GUWAHATI, Dec 6: The North East Forum for Indigenous People (NEFIP) has strongly condemned the recent ambush on civilians during an anti-insurgency operation by security forces in Nagaland, while demanding immediate withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) 1958 from the region.
The forum, which represents civil society organisations of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, termed the attack “barbarous”, stating that the “Indian Army under the garb of a controversial, inhumane, colonial draconian law called AFSPA cannot justify their act in any way as it is very much an act of terrorism.”
AFSPA grants special powers to the Indian armed forces to maintain public order in “disturbed areas”.
“The genocide against innocent civilians returning from work at Oting in Mon district of Nagaland on the pretext of mistaken identity is a heinous crime against humanity and an attempt to annihilate the indigenous people from their soil and suppress their right to live in dignity,” NEFIP secretary (media), Khuraijam Athouba said in a statement issued on Monday.
“We demand the Union government to immediately withdraw the inhumane Act from the soil of the Northeast region and remove all the Army Cantonments from civilian areas,” Athouba stated.
Expressing condolences and solidarity towards the brethren of Nagaland, particularly to the Eastern Naga People and the families of the deceased, the forum stated that time has come for the indigenous people to rise to the occasion and fight for their right to existence.
The forum further appealed to all federating state members and the indigenous people of Northeast to stand together and extend their solidarity to the people of Nagaland.